I've had a kitten for 6 days and think he is sick. Diarrhea, lethargic......Need opinions please!

Auroraei said:

I think he poops elsewhere when I'm asleep because his box gets dirty and he doesn't like that. So I'll either have to get another box or something. He's never acted like he's in pain, so I don't know about that :\

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FYI, cats are excellent at hiding pain.

Agreed with others, give the plain chicken at least a week to calm his tummy.

How's he doing now?

Update: He is still eating the chicken and no messes so far. He hasn't been having accidents and his litterbox isn't a mess like it was. One weird thing to note is that I don't really think he's pooping much. He hasn't pooped at all today and yesterday was just some small poops in his litterbox. Not sure if I should be worried about that. Other than that he is active and playful and seems to be his normal self.

Since he is only eating chicken, it should be very bioavailable so there shouldn't be much poop. It sounds like it's working. Keeping fingers crossed for you and the little guy.

vball91 said:

Since he is only eating chicken, it should be very bioavailable so there shouldn't be much poop. It sounds like it's working. Keeping fingers crossed for you and the little guy.

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Bio what? Lol. If there shouldn't be much poop, how can I tell if he still has diareah? I mean since I don't see solid or squirts.

Since he's just eating plain animal protein (no fillers/grains/fruits/vegetables that cats can't process very well) his body should not be producing much waste. I think if he still has diarrhea, there would still be some "squirts" because his system would still be having trouble processing anything.

vball91 said:

Since he's just eating plain animal protein (no fillers/grains/fruits/vegetables that cats can't process very well) his body should not be producing much waste. I think if he still has diarrhea, there would still be some "squirts" because his system would still be having trouble processing anything.

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This is awesome news!
All that volume is stuff he wasn't digesting well.... Literally waste. Since he is utilizing chicken so well, there is not much left behind (nice pun )
Kitties on raw often don't poop every day; mine don't.... And their poops are tiny tiny :nod:. If someone has diarrhea, it is quite different from when they were eating regular food.... Much lower in volume too.
I think you will start seeing a nice change on your little guy now!

Carolina said:

This is awesome news!
All that volume is stuff he wasn't digesting well.... Literally waste. Since he is utilizing chicken so well, there is not much left behind (nice pun

)
Kitties on raw often don't poop every day; mine don't.... And their poops are tiny tiny

. If someone has diarrhea, it is quite different from when they were eating regular food.... Much lower in volume too.
I think you will start seeing a nice change on your little guy now!

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Well this is good to know I hope it's working and not just some fluke. I'll keep you guys updated!

Auroraei said:

Well this is good to know I hope it's working and not just some fluke. I'll keep you guys updated!

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I know it is hard to believe that after going through so much the solution can be as easy as changing the diet to some good old natural plain meat..... We go through so many drugs, vet visits, tests, and NOTHING, NOTHING works.... Then bam! Meats fixes them right up. Seen it time and time again. Trust me, I went through it for years with Bugsy. I tried it all. It took me 8 days to transition him to raw, I did it slowly.... But on the first day he ate a full raw meal he got better. I too thought he was constipated. I never looked back, and will never look back! I don't think this is a fluke....

Yay for the great news! Sounds like things are going as they should be.

I let him have some cat grass, is this okay?

Ideally no..... Cats have no needs for grass. They are carnivores. Obligate carnivores. It can upset their digestion.... Not what you want now.
You shouldn't feel bad for him. If he is eating the chicken, let him eat the chicken and get better.... For now it is ALL he needs. You need to be patient..... Remember, when cats eat kibbles they often eat that same food for years, day in and day out and don't get bored. Not saying that's the best thing to do long term.... It is not.... But your kitty needs this for a little longer.... Hang in there, ok?
How is he doing?

Did you get the probiotic? You need to start giving it to him

I understood that grass was used by cats to induce vomiting and thus eliminate hairballs.  I had an old indoor cat who used to ask me for some grass.  He loved eating it.  Just proper fresh lawn grass, nothing in it of course.  I tried growing the proper cat grass for him, (i.e. the stuff you buy already sown in containers) but he did not like it, only lawn grass.

Carolina said:

Ideally no..... Cats have no needs for grass. They are carnivores. Obligate carnivores. It can upset their digestion.... Not what you want now.
You shouldn't feel bad for him. If he is eating the chicken, let him eat the chicken and get better.... For now it is ALL he needs. You need to be patient..... Remember, when cats eat kibbles they often eat that same food for years, day in and day out and don't get bored. Not saying that's the best thing to do long term.... It is not.... But your kitty needs this for a little longer.... Hang in there, ok?
How is he doing?

Did you get the probiotic? You need to start giving it to him

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How would I give him a probiotic on chicken? Isn't that something you mix in with wet food?

Anyways no idea how he's doing. He still hasn't pooped. Only 1 small spot in his litterbox and it wasn't formed :\ This experiment is more confusing than anything.

Taxido said:

I understood that grass was used by cats to induce vomiting and thus eliminate hairballs.  I had an old indoor cat who used to ask me for some grass.  He loved eating it.  Just proper fresh lawn grass, nothing in it of course.  I tried growing the proper cat grass for him, (i.e. the stuff you buy already sown in containers) but he did not like it, only lawn grass.

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I was giving him SmartyKat Sweet Greens grass, he seems to like it, he got up on the counter when I was asleep and made a big mess lol.

Glad things are going better.

As Other Posters have said, if he gets bored of the chicken, he'll stop eating it.

I have a feeling that your kitten got REALLY bored of having diarrehea all of the time.  And was in pain although he hid it; that's what cats do.  Hide pain.

Give his other problems, I wouldn't introduce cat grass to him.

Ritz loves cat grass, but it sometimes makes her throw up

She also loves probiotics (human kind, 10 billion live cells), literally licks the plate. 

Probiotics are easy to adminster if in capsule form. You just twist it apart and sprinkle it on the food. I like to mix it a little with the food (any food), so my cat doesn't just lick it off and leave the food behind (her favorite trick).

Phoenix is acting weird today. Not only is he really hyper, but I think he's being agressive. If I walk by him he will pounce on my leg and bite it HARD and his ears go back and he's strong and it's hard to pull him off me, and when I do he just latches on again, and he keeps attacking my hands. He's NEVER done this before, it's scary.

Could be a sign of pain; Ritz acted a little like this when she pooped blood.

Or, could be misplaced agression:  he saw a bird outside, can't get to it, so he attacks you.

I wanted to get him fixed a long time ago. But I don't know if he can go through surgery on this chicken diet? Since he's not getting enough nutrients?

Oh, I didn't realize he wasn't fixed.

Some of his behavior could be because he is in heat and will remain in heat until he "gets lucky".

I'd talk to the vet about whether he could go through surgery; the diarrehea is more debiliating than a chicken diet.  You'd have to weigh the (health) pros/cons of neutering him.

I was helping to foster a cat who cycled in and out of heat (it seemed) every four days; she lost a lot of weight and developed a skin condition before we could get her in to be spayed.